Dare to do what other don’t (Part 2)

Influencer marketing - 75 years before Instagram
Nissan's daring innovations can be seen not only in technology, but in marketing as well. One of the most audacious examples was in 1935, 75 years before Instagram launched and the use of ‘influencers’ was mainstream. During that time, musical reviews were one of the most popular forms of entertainment in Japan, and their actors and actresses were the superstars of the day.

To inspire audiences to associate the cars with the glamor and excitement of the show’s stars, Nissan inventively put their cars on stage to be part of the sets. Not stopping there, they decided to work with famous actresses as their ‘influencers’ and also sponsored these musical shows. Something unheard of at the time.
A great example was when musical review audiences were stunned to see not just one, but 10 cars revealed on the stage with extremely popular actress Takiko Mizunoe, in the Shochiku Girls Revue Company at the height of the latter’s popularity in 1935.
Ingenious and astonishing then, the idea of using influencers is a marketing concept still hugely popular all over the world today.